The present invention relates to a system for routing a sensor through a predefined area and, more particularly, to a system for scanning a target portion of the predefined area.
Various operations are becoming increasingly dependent on intelligent systems to guide the planning and execution of critical mission tasks. Planning missions by hand, or by large, ground-based computer systems is rapidly becoming obsolete in a world in which rapid access to information is almost as important as physical capability. One of the critical planning tasks involves the real-time route and sensor planning for a variety of mission scenarios. The missions may be military or civil and take place on land, sea or in the air. Developing algorithms and architectures to solve these problems is a rapidly growing area of interest. Once a large enough portion of an area has been scanned by a sensor equipped entity, other entities may enter the area and perform their various functions.
One of the main components of such planning operations involves the development of accurate and efficient route and sensor planning algorithms. Such planning operations include, but are certainly not limited to, reconnaissance and surveillance operations. These planning operations are needed for a variety of platforms including air, naval, ground, and various tactical combinations of all three.
Finding solutions to these planning problems is very difficult and can determine the difference between success and failure of the mission. It is unlikely that there will be expedient solutions for this class of problems. Thus, heuristic approaches are used to generate efficient solutions in real-time that are as good or better than a human could generate. Only limited research has been conducted for solving these types of problems.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method routes an entity through a predetermined area for scanning the content of the area. The method comprises the steps of: partitioning the predetermined area into cells; determining a starting cell for the entity; initiating a scan of a number of the cells from the starting cell and determining the content of each of the number of cells; and determining a total cost for the entity to travel to each of the scanned cells and to perform a scan from each of the scanned cells.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a system scans a target portion of a predefined search area. The system includes a sensor for scanning a first part of the predefined search area and a device for analyzing output from the sensor and determining a destination within the predefined area for the sensor. The sensor scans a second part of the predefined search area from the destination. The first part and the second part together comprise a part of the predefined search area at least as large as the target portion of the predefined search area.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product determines a route for an entity through a predetermined area and analyzes the content of the predetermined area. The product includes four procedures. The first procedure partitions the predetermined area into cells. The second procedure determines a starting cell for the entity. The third procedure initiates a scan of a number of the cells from the starting cell and determines the content of each of the number of cells. The fourth procedure determines a total cost for the entity to travel to each of the scanned cells and for performing a scan from each of the scanned cells.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product includes a computer readable medium and a computer program stored by the computer readable medium. The computer program includes the following instructions: a first instruction for partitioning the predetermined area into cells; a second instruction for determining a starting cell for the entity; a third instruction for initiating a scan, from the starting cell, of a number of the cells and determining the content of each of the number of cells; a fourth instruction for determining a total cost for the entity to travel to each of the scanned cells and for performing a scan from each of the scanned cells.